Meanings
- uncountableAny writing, films, images, or other material that contains gratuitous amounts of bloodshed or violence.
In 1986, Philip Brophy noted in Screen magazine that the horror film defied critics' attempts to deal with it as other than plotless carnography, gore, and effects for an increasingly brutalized mass audience.
1995, Linda Badley, Film, horror, and the body fantastic, page 6Synonyms: violence porn
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny writing, films, images, or other material that contains gratuitous amounts of bloodshed or violence.
Origin
- Latincarnis“meat”
- Englishcarnography
From Latin carnis (“meat”) and Ancient Greek γραφή (graphḗ, “writing”), by analogy to pornography. Although it is often taken to be a blend carnage and pornography, this is not the case.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
carnography. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carnography
“carnography.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carnography. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “carnography,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carnography.
Source: carnography on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.